Rob Schick

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University Program in Ecology
Duke University, Box 90328
Durham, NC 27708-0328 USA
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EDUCATION

WORK AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

    August 2005 - Present: Ph.D. Candidate / James B. Duke Fellow; Research & Teaching Assistant, University Program in Ecology, Duke University, Durham, NC. 4th year Ecology Ph.D. candidate and member of the Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab and the Landscape Ecology Lab. Teaching Assistant for the following courses: Geospatial Analysis for Coastal and Marine Management.

    May 2002 - June 2005: Ecologist, NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Fisheries Ecology Division, Santa Cruz, CA. Conducted research into the spatial distribution of threatened and endangered salmonids in California and Southern Oregon. Led a team of 4 GIS researchers and analysts that constructed a habitat model for every anadromous stream and river reach in California, which served as the basis for recovery plan efforts in Coastal CA as well as California's Central Valley. Used graph theoretic & GIS methods to examine historical spatial structure of Central Valley spring run Chinook salmon and steelhead.

    January 2000 - May 2002: Assistant Scientist / GIS, Edgerton Research Lab, New England Aquarium, Boston, MA. Developed a GIS lab that conducted original research into the distribution and abundance of bluefin tuna and northern right whales.

    Fall 1997: Marine Mammal Observer, Cascadia Research Collective, Olympia, WA. Aerial observer for annual harbor porpoise survey's off Oregon and Washington.

PUBLICATIONS - Peer Reviewed

    [10] Schick, R. S. and M. E. Lutcavage (2009) Inclusion of prey data better predicts bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) distribution. Fisheries Oceanography 18(1):77-81.

    [9] Urban, D.L., Minor, E.S., Treml, E.A., and Schick, R.S. (In Press at Ecology Letters) Graph models of habitat mosaics.

    [8] Schick, R.S., S.R. Loarie, F. Colchero, B.D. Best, A. Boustany, D.A. Conde, P.N. Halpin, L.N. Joppa, C.M. McClellan, and J.S. Clark. (2008) Understanding movement data and movement processes: current and emerging directions. Ecology Letters 11:1138-1150.

    [7] Schick, R. S. and S. T. Lindley. 2007. Directed connectivity among fish populations in a riverine network. Journal of Applied Ecology 44:1116-1126.

    [6] Best, B.D., Halpin, P.N., Fujioka, E., Read, A.J., Qian, S.S., Hazen, L.J., and Schick, R.S. (2007) Geospatial web services within a scientific workflow: Predicting marine mammal habitats in a dynamic environment. Ecological Informatics 2:210-223.

    [5] S. T. Lindley, R. S. Schick, E. Mora, P. B. Adams, J. J. Anderson, S. Greene, C. Hanson, B. P. May, D. R. McEwan, R. B. MacFarlane, C. Swanson, and J. G. Williams. 2007. Framework for assessing viability of threatened and endangered Chinook salmon and steelhead in the Sacramento-San Joaquin basin. San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science 5(1):4.

    [4] Parra, G., R.S. Schick, and P. Corkeron. 2006. Spatial distribution patterns of sympatric Irrawaddy and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in northeast Queensland, Australia. Ecography 29 (3): 396-406. PDF

    [3] Lindley, S. T., R. S. Schick, A. Agrawal, M. Goslin, T. E. Pearson, E. Mora, B. May, J. Anderson, S. Green, C. Hanson, A. Low, D. McEwan, R. MacFarlane, C. Swanson, and J. Williams. 2006. Historical population structure of central valley steelhead and its alteration by dams. San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science 4(1):3.

    [2] Schick, R. S., J. Goldstein, and M. E. Lutcavage. 2004. Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus ) distribution in relation to sea surface temperature fronts in the Gulf of Maine (1994-96). Fisheries Oceanography 13:225-238. PDF Press about this article PDF

    [1] Schick, R. S. and D. L. Urban. 2000. Spatial components of bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) distribution in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. Can. J. Fish. Aq. Sci. 57:2193-2200. PDF

PUBLICATIONS - Technical Reports

    Williams, T. H., E. P. Bjorkstedt, W. Duffy, D. Hillemeier, G. Kautsky, T. Lisle, M. McCain, M. Rode, R. G. Szerlong, R. Schick, M. Goslin, and A. Agrawal. 2006. Historical population structure of coho salmon in the Southern Oregon / Northern California Coasts Evolutionarily Significant Unit. NOAA Technical Memo. NMFS-SWFSC-390 PDF

    Agrawal, A., R. S. Schick, E. P. Bjorkstedt, R. Szerlong, M. Goslin, B. C. Spence, T. Williams, and K. Burnett. 2005a . Predicting the potential for historical coho, chinook and steelhead habitat in Northern California. NOAA Technical Memo 379:1-25. PDF

    Agrawal, A., R. Schick, E. Bjorkstedt, B. Spence, and M. Goslin. 2005b . A gis-based synthesis of information on spawning distributions of chinook salmon in the California Coast Chinook Salmon ESU. NOAA Technical Memo 377:1-15. PDF

    Schick, R. S., A. L. Edsall, and S. T. Lindley. 2005. Historical and current distribution of pacific salmonids in the Central Valley, CA. NOAA Technical Memo 369:1-30. PDF

    Lindley, S. T., R. S. Schick, B. May, J. Anderson, S. Green, C. Hanson, A. Low, D. McEwan, R. MacFarlane, C. Swanson, and J. Williams. 2004. Population structure of threatened and endangered chinook salmon ESUs in California's central valley basin. NOAA Technical Memo 360:1-56. PDF

PUBLICATIONS - Non peer-reviewed

    Schick, R. S., 2002a. Spatial correlation between bluefin tuna and sea surface temperature fronts. in J. Breman, editor. Marine Geography: GIS for the Oceans and Seas. ESRI Press.

    Schick, R. S., 2002b. Using gis to track right whales and bluefin tuna in the Atlantic Ocean. in D. Wright, editor. Undersea with GIS. ESRI Press.

    Schick, R. S., 2001. Tuna distribution in relation to phy- sical features in the Gulf of Maine. in C. Convis, editor. Conservation Geography: Case Studies in GIS, Computer Mapping, and Activism. ESRI Press.

PRESS

PRESENTATIONS - Oral

    Schick, R.S., Clark, J.S., Loarie, S.R., Colchero, F., Best, B.D., Boustany, A., Conde, D.A., Halpin, P.N., Joppa, L.N., McCellan, C.M., Read, A.J., Slay, C.S., Kraus, S.D., Mate, B.R., and Baumgartner, M.F. Understanding Movement Data and Movement Processes: what is the state of the art? The Third International Biologging Science Symposium, Pacific Grove, CA, September 1-5, 2008.

    Schick, R.S., Clark, J.S., Mate, B.R., Baumgartner, M.F., Slay, C.S., Kraus, S.D., Halpin, P.N., Read, A.J., Urban, D.L., Werner, F.E., and Best, B.D. Should I Stay or Should I Go? Estimating movement forces in NW Atlantic Right Whales with Hierarchical Bayes. The Annual Meeting of the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, New Bedford, MA, November 7-8, 2007.

    Schick, R.S. Spatial and demographic connectivity among endangered salmon populations in a riverine network. Departmental Seminar, Biology Department, UNC-Greensboro. November, 1st, 2006. Invited Presentation.

    Schick, R.S., S.T. Lindley, A. Lloyd, Halpin, P.N., and Urban, D.L. Directed connectivity among fish populations in a riverine network. Presented during the 91st Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Memphis, TN. Aug 5-11, 2006.

    Urban, D.L. and Minor, E. and Treml, E.A. and Schick, R.S., Graph models of habitat networks: commonalities and implications. Presented during the 91st Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Memphis, TN. Aug 5-11, 2006.

    Burnett, K.M., E. P. Bjorkstedt, D. Miller, B.C. Spence, K. Vance-Borland, R. S. Schick, and A. Agrawal. Modeling Intrinsic Habitat Potential for Salmonids in Oregon and California. Presented during the 135th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society. Anchorage, AK. Sept 11-15, 2005.

    Barnett-Johnson, R., C.F. Ramos, R. S. Schick, B.C. Grimes, R.B. MacFarlane. Sr isotopes in otoliths reveal natal origin and ocean structure in Chinook salmon in California with application to salmonids in other regions. Presented during the 135th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society. Anchorage, AK. Sept 11-15, 2005.

    Schick, R.S. and S.T. Lindley. Using Graph Theory to Assess Connectivity in the Endangered Central Valley, CA Spring Run Chinook Evolutionarily Significant Unit. Presented during the 89th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Portland, OR. Aug 1-6, 2004.

    Schick, R.S. Using the ArcInfo Network Module to Determine Fish Population Structure. Presented at the 24th Annual ESRI User Conference, August 9-13, 2004. San Diego, CA.

    Schick, R.S. and S.T. Lindley. 2004. Inferring Historical Within-basin Population Structure of Central Valley Steelhead Using Graph Theory. Invited Presentation. Presented during the Central Valley Steelhead Recovery Symposium at the American Fisheries Society meeting of the California-Nevada and Humboldt Chapters. Redding, CA. April 22-24, 2004.

    Schick, R.S., A. Agrawal, B. Spence, M. Goslin, and E. Bjorkstedt. Using Dynamic Segmentation to Display, Query and Analyze Fisheries Data. Presented at the 23rd Annual ESRI User Conference, July 7-11, 2003. San Diego, CA.

    Schick, R.S., S.T. Lindley, and E.P. Bjorkstedt. Assessing quantitative relationships between Chinook salmon and GIS-derived habitat data. Presented during the Interagency Ecological Program Workshop, California Water and Environmental Modeling Forum Annual Meeting, February 25-27, 2003. Pacific Grove, CA.

    Schick, R.S., and M.E. Lutcavage. Bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus ) distribution in relation to sea surface temperature fronts in the Gulf of Maine (1994-1996). Invited Presentation. Presented during the Spatial Movement of Fish: Field Study, Modeling, and Management Perspectives symposium at the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting. August 18-22, 2002. Baltimore, MD.

    Brill, R.W., M.E. Lutcavage, R. S. Schick, and N.K. Newlands. Environmental Influences on Movements and Depth Distributions of Tunas and Billfishes. Presented at the New Insights Into the Ecology of Pelagic Animals From Applications of Electronic Tags, during the 2002 Ocean Sciences Meeting. February 11-15 , 2002. Honolulu, HI.

    Schick, R.S., M.E. Lutcavage, and S.D. Kraus. Satellite Imagery Ecosystem based GIS study of Bluefin Tuna and Right Whale distribution and movements in the Gulf of Maine and Northwest Atlantic. Presented at Environmental Consequences of Underwater Sound Meeting, Office of Naval Research, United States Navy. July 18-19, 2000. Rosslyn, VA.

    Schick, R.S., and D.L. Urban. Spatial Components of Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) distribution in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. Presented at the 15th Annual Symposium of the U.S. Chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology. April 15-19, 2000. Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

PRESENTATIONS - Poster

    Bjorkstedt, E. P., B. C. Spence, T. H. Williams, W. Duffy, D. Fuller, J. C. Garza, D. Hankin, D. Hillemeier, W. Jones, G. Kautsky, T. Lisle, R. Macedo, M. McCain, J. Smith, M. Rode, R. G. Szerlong, R. Schick, T. Pearson, E. Mora, M. Goslin, and A. Agrawal. Historical population structure of ESA-listed Pacific salmonids in the Southern Oregon / Northern California Coast and North-Central California Coast recovery domains. Presented during the 137th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society. San Francisco, CA., 2-6 September 2007.

    Agrawal, A., R.G. Szerlong, M. Goslin, E. Bjorkstedt, R. Schick, T. Williams, and B. Spence. Predicting the distribution of coho salmon habitat in the SONCC Recovery Domain. Presented during the 137th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society. San Francisco, CA., 2-6 September 2007

    Williams, T.H., E.P. Bjorkstedt, W. Duffy, D. Hillemeier, G. Kautsky, T. Lisle, M. McCain, M. Rode, R.G. Szerlong, R. S. Schick, M. Goslin, and A. Agrawal. Historical population structure of coho salmon in the Southern Oregon / Northern California Coasts Evolutionarily Significant Unit. Oregon Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, 41st Annual Meeting. March 1-3 2006, Sunriver, OR.

    Agrawal, A, R.G. Szerlong, M. Goslin, E. Bjorkstedt, R. S. Schick, T. Williams, and B. Spence. Predicting the Distribution of Coho Salmon Habitat in the SONCC Recovery Domain. Oregon Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, 40th Annual Meeting. February 18-20, 2004. Sunriver, OR.

    Parra, G.J., R. S. Schick, and P.J. Corkeron. Spatial distribution patterns of sympatric Irrawaddy and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in northeast Queensland, Australia. Presented at the Fifteenth Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals. December 15-19, 2003. Greensboro, NC.

    Schick, R.S. Using ArcInfo, Perl, and the Distributed Oceanographic Data System (DODS) to analyze movements of right whales in relation to sea surface temperature fronts. The Use of Geomatic Technologies for Marine Mammal Scientists II at the Fourteenth Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals. November 28, 2001. Vancouver, BC.

    Schick, R.S., D.L. Urban, P.N. Halpin, and A.J. Read. GIS techniques for spatial analysis of bowhead whale distribution. GIS and Remote Sensing for Marine Mammal Conservation Symposium at the Thirteenth Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals. November 28, 1999. Maui, HI.

    Schick, R.S., P.F. Forestell, and E.K. Brown. Near-shore distribution patterns of humpback whales in Hawaii simultaneously determined by theodolite and small boat surveys. Presented at the Tenth Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals. November 11-15, 1993. Galveston, TX.

HONORS & AWARDS

  • Duke University Marine Lab Dissertation Year Fellowship, Duke University (2008-2009)
  • Southwood Prize 2007, British Ecological Society - Honorable Mention
  • Student Travel Award to attend and present at the US - Hungarian Workshop on Large-Scale Random Graph Methods for Modeling Mesoscopic Behavior in Biological and Physical Systems, Budapest, Hungary (2006)
  • Duke University, Graduate School, Teaching Grant (2006)
  • James B. Duke Fellowship, Duke University (2005-2009)
  • Academic Service Fellowship, University Program in Ecology, Duke University (2005-2006)
  • University Fellowship to study Ecology, University of California, Davis (2005 - declined).
  • Environmental Internship Fund Fellow ($1500), Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University (1999)
  • Merit Scholarship ($5000), Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University (1998-1999)
  • Dean's List, University of Washington (1992 - 1994)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP

EDP

  • OS - UNIX (Solaris, Irix), Linux, Mac OSX, Windows
  • Languages: R, AML, Matlab, Perl, LaTeX
  • Applications: ArcInfo, R, Matlab
Webpage updated: 07/2006 by rob schick
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